1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an AC (alternating current) light emitting diode including a plurality of light emitting cells arranged in a matrix form and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
A light emitting diode, which is a photoelectric conversion device having a structure in which an N-type semiconductor and a P-type semiconductor are joined together, emits light through recombination of electrons and holes. Such light emitting diodes have been widely used as display devices and backlights. Further, since the light emitting diode has less electric power consumption and a longer lifetime as compared with a conventional light bulb or fluorescent lamp, the light emitting diode is substituted for a conventional incandescent bulb or fluorescent lamp and has been widely used for the purpose of general illumination.
The light emitting diode is repeatedly turned on/off depending on the direction of a current under an AC power source. Thus, in a case where the light emitting diode is used while connected directly to the AC power source, there is a problem in that the light emitting diode does not continuously light and may easily be damaged by a reverse direction current.
To solve such a problem of the light emitting diode, a light emitting diode that can be used by connecting it directly to a high-voltage AC power source has been disclosed in PCT No. WO2004/023568(A1), entitled “LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICE HAVING LIGHT-EMITTING ELEMENTS” by SAKAI et al.
According to disclosed PCT No. WO2004/023568(A1), light emitting cells are two-dimensionally connected in series on an insulation substrate such as a sapphire substrate through metal wires to form LED arrays. Such two LED arrays are in reverse parallel on the substrate. As a result, the arrays are repeatedly turned on/off alternately by an AC power supply to emit light.
However, since the disclosed conventional technology is implemented through a unified method in which only one metal wire is always used with respect to one electrode when connecting electrodes of the adjacent light emitting cells through metal wires, various designs of AC light emitting diodes for enhancement of the intensity of light, prevention of flickering of light or the like have been limited.
As an example, if the conventional unified wire connection method is used in a case where the light emitting cells are arranged to constitute a matrix and an additional means for enhancing the intensity of light or the like is added as a portion of the elements of the matrix, there may be many difficulties in connecting the metal wires while avoiding the element added as the element of the matrix. Even though it is possible, there may be caused a problem in that the total length of the metal wires becomes extremely long.